Council offers a ‘home for life’ to residents

A report to the council’s cabinet, which met on Thursday 4 January, stated that around 1,350 residents now live in Nuplace homes across 10 developments in Telford and Wrekin.

Providing a home for life for residents continues to be a priority for Nuplace where 55% of tenants are understood to be families (figures from Nuplace 2023 tenant survey).

Telford & Wrekin Homes is also offering residents good quality, secure and affordable places to live in the borough by focusing on renovating and bringing redundant and empty properties back into use.

Currently all 19 properties are occupied by tenants which include a mix of private and social rents, with a number of the properties also providing invaluable move on accommodation for people in temporary housing.

Mandy who lives in a Nuplace home in Randlay with her husband and 19-year-old daughter told us: “Back in 2015 we were renting a property in Aqueduct when suddenly we were hit with the news our current landlord was selling the property. We always knew this was a risk but seeing notice given in writing made it a really worrying time for us.

“Our first priority moving home was our daughter Emma. Emma has autism so finding a place to suit Emma and somewhere which offered us some security was all we wanted.

“As soon as we found out Nuplace was owned by the council we were filled with relief. I just remember thinking we had potentially found our forever home. We feel so lucky to have found Nuplace. We rarely drive to the town centre as it’s much easier to walk and we’ve also completed the couch to 5k since living here as the park is right on our doorstep.

“I’d recommend Nuplace to any family who are looking for a sense of security.”

Nuplace is also taking sustainable housing to the next level in the borough in summer 2023 the council’s housing company launched its first ever Future Homes standard properties at Wild Walk in Donnington. Phase 1 properties at this site are now all reserved ahead of tenants moving in in Spring 2024.

Southwater Way, located in Telford town centre, is also a fully sustainable development supporting the council’s low carbon agenda by offering offer PV panels and electric vehicle charging points at every property. 

It is estimated that a tenant of a 3-bedroom home at this development could save as much as £900 per year in energy bills and reduce the building’s carbon footprint by more than 400kg of carbon emissions annually – the same amount of CO2 that’s emitted by driving 1,900 miles in a diesel car.

Councillor Richard Overton (Lab) cabinet member for homes and enforcement said: “As a council we are committed to ensuring that everyone who lives in our borough has access to safe and appropriate housing. Not only are Nuplace and Telford & Wrekin Homes driving up standards in the private rented sector in Telford, but most importantly they are offering residents a secure, place to call home with a landlord they can trust.

“It’s been fantastic to see the level of demand for the properties in the last 12 months; particularly at our latest sustainable developments at Southwater and Donnington.  It was always our aspiration to ensure that Nuplace lead the way in delivering sustainable homes and I am delighted that residents will benefit first hand.”

To date Nuplace currently has 485 homes right across the borough, with a further 359 planned or at construction. 124 of the existing homes are affordable properties. The housing investment programme has also enabled the delivery of a further 399 affordable dwellings by housing association partners. 

Since 2015/16 Nuplace has generated a cumulative net incremental income of £9.7m to the council which is being used to help vital frontline services during ongoing challenging times.

Anyone who is interested in Nuplace homes can register their interest at nuplace.co.uk to be among the first to hear about new developments.